Labor Day weekend: A time to plan, or not

Tuesday

Technically, this is the time to start planning your fall garden chores. Labor Day weekend is the perfect time to pull out the warm season vegetables and put in the cool season veggies.

Now is when you want to plan your attack on the lawn to rejuvenate or completely renovate it.

With most pruning chores on the back burner, you can start that new deck, that new garden path, that new dry-stack wall or that new water feature.

Or, you could give yourself permission to take the long weekend off.

As you prepare to head out (or just take off at home) for the Labor Day weekend, I have some other interesting items for you to add to your calendar in September.

* The 2017 N.C. Mountain State Fair will open Sept. 8-17 at the WNC Agricultural Center. In addition to the normal, farm-filled fun, visitors can enjoy the High Dive Fireman Show and Dakota and Friends, an interactive and educational experience featuring six types of dinosaurs. To see the full lineup, visit www.wncagcenter.org.

* Beginning on Sept. 7 and continuing through Oct. 29, the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont will host the Chinese Lantern Festival. Organizers promise us these won’t be just little paper lanterns along the walkway. Instead, expect to see 800 colorful lanterns of all shapes and sizes, made by masters of the craft in Zigong, China. The show runs 5:30-9:30 p.m. on Wednesdays through Sundays. For more information, visit the garden website at www.dsbg.org.

* The 21st Conference on Restoring Southern Gardens & Landscapes happens Sept. 21-23 in Winston-Salem. The event starts with lectures from noted landscape writers and historians and includes tours of gardens around Winston-Salem. Visit http://www.oldsalem.org/events/event/landscapeconference/ for more information.

* Don’t forget — the N.C. State Fair will celebrate 150 years of operations this year. The will open on Thursday, Oct. 12, with a special admission price, commemorative buttons, food specials and prizes. If you can make it on the first day, admission will be $1.50. Gates will open at 3 p.m. that day. The fair will close on Oct. 22. To keep up with all the activities planned for 2017, visit www.ncstatefair.org.